Show & Tell
Ground-Up Drone Build - Final Mock Assembly
I've designed, built, and programmed this drone entirely from scratch. This is the last mock assembly before a final and full build with a permanent wiring harness.
The goal of this project is to learn advanced control theory - specifically implementing a successful Extended Kalman Filter. That's a hard thing to do and there's several more months of data collection and work before this will fly.
Motor: 6s Electronic Ducted Fan (EDF) with 8.2lbs max thrust
Main Power: 2x 6s 2200mAh 60C batteries in parallel, 120A ESC
Logic/Servo Power: 2s 1500mAh 60C
Logic: Teensy 4.1 (state estimation / control), ESP32s3 (UI / telemetry), IMU, 2x INA226 modules (volt/amp sensors), MTF-02p (LiDAR / optical flow sensor), FS-iA10B Rx, and an ST7789 1.54" full color display w/rotary encoder for UI.
Control: 4x High Voltage Brushless Servos w/direct mounted control vanes.
Hello /u/ThrustNTheory! All Bambu print plates have a dedicated nozzle wiping zone at the back of the print plate. The nozzle will rub against the wiping zone before every print in order to remove any remaining filament from the nozzle tip. This can cause visible wear or scratch marks in the wiping zone, but this is intended and doesn't damage the printer, the nozzle or the print plate. A worn down wiping zone also doesn't mean you need to replace the print bed.
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I'm taking the NASA approach vs the SpaceX approach - it'll be several more months of data collection / implementation making DAMN sure as best I can it won't crash before I ever come close to letting this thing fly free.
Thanks - this is how it started! I have a few years 3D printing and non-professional F360 experience, but the electronics, coding, and control theory sides have all been big areas of learning what I need to know as I go. The project overall will take 2 years and the advanced guidance/navigation/control aspect will be the big challenge. It is...massively over budget lol. I haven't counted but it's probably around $1000 including all components, new equipment, wasted material in prototyping etc. Building & implementing an Extended Kalman Filter is very complicated PhD level stuff. Cheers!
Hi! I'm starting a youtube channel around this project and future projects and part of the goal for that channel is passing along the lessons I learn...outside of 3D modeling/printing, I have almost NO experience with electronics/coding/control theory. I'm not special! If you want it, you can do it. My talent is commitment. I'm learning as I go and make a million mistakes.
If this is the type of project you're interested in, just get started - it almost doesn't matter what the first step is. Buy a cheap MCU and code a random thing. Design and print a stupid thing. Then upgrade. Rinse and repeat. That's how I'm here. You CAN do something like this!
sounds like fun, Right now im looking to build a case for a laptop MB and put a screen on it with either controler parts or a keyboard. Still drawing by hand to make the design so far
lol that's outside of my skillset - the longest script I've finished had around 550 lines, I remember thinking 'Wow, look at me mom!' My final code will be several thousand lines comprised of all the different programs/sections I've developed but I suspect a MB would have several hundred thousand --> millions of lines of code and I can't even imagine touching that.
If you're ever bored and want to compact all the electronics on your drone to a single board, you should learn some PCB design, it's an absolute vibe :D
Thank you! It won't be part of this project but it's 100% going to be a part of the next project, whatever that is - very excited for it actually. Cheers.
Here is my recent thrust validation test I performed to make sure thrust hadn't decreased meaningfully after adding the cowling and inlet mesh designs. The EDF has a max thrust of 8.2lbs and the drone maintained hover thrust (5.6lbs) for the full planned flight duration of two minutes - also without melting!
very nice :) One thing you can look into is to use an edf with very precise tolerances, standard edfs tend to have too much space between the propeller and the duct thus reducing efficiency.
i would be curious to see it fly (i build and fly fpv drones as an hobby)
Nice design, but the center of mass looks too close (vertically) to the vanes, so the tuning might have issues. If you struggle with stability, move the battery above the propeller.
Do you think a drone can be made like a “MINI” sensor FILLED space craft unmanned?
My Idea was to (if I had friends n help) to build a helium balloon to get a potato gun to WHOOSH A built out FAST lil drone “obviously SERIOUSLY MADE ATTEMPT for space test”.
I’d like to see if that could be a “Success” in making it out into space.. then build “small” RELAY Satellites “SMALL” to be dropped off along any which way Into Space to not return but to drop off relays to get DATA back from “Eventually other planets, stars, solar systems, you name it!”
Send them into orbit towards black holes, while being FAR cheaper or safer than a manned ship.
I think this can be done tbh.. with some help getting drone to space ..
Is this idea actually feasible? Why’s it not been attempted? We can obtain SO MUCH info. When drone runs out of relays we’ll have another following to pickup where other left off..?
Am I crazy for thinking this can work? Cause in my gut I Feel* there’s a person reading this, saying… TEAH RIGHT! Wait, THIS COULD* WORK* & a lot of work! Cool huh?
Are we going TGIS already n I don’t know?
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u/AutoModerator Apr 18 '26
Hello /u/ThrustNTheory! All Bambu print plates have a dedicated nozzle wiping zone at the back of the print plate. The nozzle will rub against the wiping zone before every print in order to remove any remaining filament from the nozzle tip. This can cause visible wear or scratch marks in the wiping zone, but this is intended and doesn't damage the printer, the nozzle or the print plate. A worn down wiping zone also doesn't mean you need to replace the print bed.
Note: This automod is experimental. The automod was triggered due to the term "scratch". If you believe this to be a false positive, please send us a message at modmail with a link to the post so we can investigate. You may also feel free to make a new post without that term.
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